Police

Stealing and profiteering

We hold records on stealing and profiteering from the Police Service Commissioner’s Office during the Second World War, as well as information on inquiries and reports, internment, lighting restrictions and blackouts, supplies, firearms and ammunition, civil defence, American forces, air raids and acts and regulations.

Finding stealing and profiteering records

These links will take you into our catalogue to view the item’s description. In the catalogue you can request a copy of this item for a fee, or request to view it in person . You may need agency approval to request items with restricted access. Read more about restricted records .

Looting

QSA holds records on looting during the Second World War, including:

Stolen property

QSA holds records of property stolen during the Second World War, including:

Profiteering and black-marketing

QSA holds records about profiteering and black-marketing during the Second World War, including:

Search the catalogue

ArchivesSearch provides access to QSA’s collection of records including documents, letters, maps, plans and images. For help with searching, read the ArchivesSearch help guide.

  • Spelling of names was not as consistent as it is today, so be sure to check alternatives—e.g. Thompson and Thomson.
  • Names may have been incorrectly indexed as the handwriting is sometimes difficult to read or the ink has faded.
    • The capital letters L, T, F and S are often confused as lower-case letters n, m, u and w. This means that Taylor may indexed as Laylor or Brum may be indexed as Bruin.
    • The use of double ‘s’ (ss) often looks like fs, so Ross will be indexed as Ross but may appear in the record as Rofs.
  • Names may have been written in the record phonetically as the clerks wrote the names as they heard them. Think about how it could be spelt as it was heard.
  • Some given names are abbreviated as they appear in the original record
  • Some records are restricted for several years.
  • Some records have not survived.
  • A blank cell indicates that there is no information recorded in the original.

Contact us

Contact us if you need further help.

In this guide:

  1. Stealing and profiteering
  2. Supplies
  3. Air raids
  4. Internment
  5. American forces
  6. Civil defence
  7. Acts and regulations
  8. Inquiries and reports
  9. Firearm and ammunition
  10. Lighting restrictions

Print entire guide